The Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN and China (the ACFTA Agreement) was signed in November 2002. The ACFTA Agreement included provisions on economic co-operation and identified areas for cooperation. In November 2015, in a joint effort to move ASEAN-China relation to a higher level, Parties has agreed to sign on the Protocol to Amend the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Co-operation and Certain Agreements thereunder between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the People’s Republic of China (the Protocol). Under the Protocol, Parties agreed to, on the basis of mutual benefit, explore and undertake economic cooperation activities in the following areas:

Trade-related issues;

Agriculture, Fishery, Forestry and Forestry Products;

Information and Communications Technology;

Human Resource Development;

Investment;

Trade in Services;

Tourism;

Industrial Cooperation;

Transport;

Intellectual Property Rights;

Small and Medium Enterprises;

Environment; and

Other fields related to economic and technical cooperation as may be mutually agreed upon by the Parties.

Economic activities are put under the purview of the ACFTA Working Group on Economic and Technical Cooperation between ASEAN and China (AC-WGETC). Prospective proponents can submit their project proposals seeking funding from the ASEAN-China Cooperation (ACCF).